Manor Drive Secondary Academy

Manor Drive Secondary Academy is a newly opened and rapidly expanding school, having opened in 2022 and currently serving pupils in Years 7 to 9. This was its first routine section 5 inspection, and it is part of The Four Cs Academy Trust. Inspectors found a school with high ambition, a broad curriculum and strong personal development. Pupils generally focus well, achieve well and benefit from an extensive enrichment programme. Safeguarding is effective, SEND identification and support are strong, reading is prioritised, and attendance is improving. The main areas for improvement are curriculum clarity and consistency of behaviour management. In some subjects, curriculum plans do not make the key knowledge and concepts clear enough, so teachers do not consistently emphasise what pupils most need to learn and remember. Behaviour is usually good, but agreed approaches are not always applied consistently, particularly during transitions, and behaviour can be boisterous; some poor behaviour has led to suspensions. Leadership and trust/governance are strong, and the school has managed rapid expansion well while building a purposeful school for the local community. Personal development is a particular strength, with pupils taking part in citizenship, leadership and wide-ranging extra-curricular opportunities.

Strengths

• High ambition for learning and a broad curriculum
• Pupils focus well in lessons and achieve well
• Exemplary personal development provision
• Every pupil participates in 'mind body goal' enrichment activities
• Wide range of clubs, educational visits, charities and sports fixtures
• Strong careers strategy, including Year 9 options guidance
• Pupils understand citizenship, respect for difference and community contribution
• Effective SEND identification and well-adapted teaching
• Strong promotion of reading with effective interventions
• Improved attendance through work with parents
• Most pupils behave well and feel safe
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Trust and governors know and support the school well
• Rapid expansion since 2022 has been managed successfully

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum plans do not always set out key knowledge and concepts clearly enough
• Teachers do not consistently emphasise the most important knowledge pupils need to learn and remember
• Pupils' learning is sometimes not as secure as it could be
• Agreed behaviour management approaches are not consistently applied
• Behaviour during transitions can be boisterous
• Some incidents of poor behaviour have resulted in suspensions
• The school needs to review behaviour arrangements and pupil support so high expectations are consistently upheld

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Manor Drive Secondary Academy attended 90.4% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 28.7% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 15.5% of pupils at Manor Drive Secondary Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Manor Drive Secondary Academy had 15.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.0% of pupils at Manor Drive Secondary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 4.4% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Manor Drive Secondary Academy received £9,586 and spent £9,240 for each of its 446 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £85,000 (£190 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Four Cs Mat, income was £7,701 and spending £7,827 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Peterborough · Peterborough local authority: places and applications

Manor Drive Secondary Academy is part of Four Cs Mat, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Manor Drive Primary Academy Peterborough
• Fulbridge Academy Peterborough
• Discovery Primary Academy Peterborough
• Ken Stimpson Academy Peterborough
• Arthur Mellows Village College Peterborough
• Hampton Vale Primary Academy Peterborough

What is Manor Drive Secondary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Manor Drive Secondary Academy is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Manor Drive Secondary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Manor Drive Secondary Academy was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Manor Drive Secondary Academy have?

Manor Drive Secondary Academy has 594 pupils on roll.

What age range does Manor Drive Secondary Academy cover?

Manor Drive Secondary Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

Where is Manor Drive Secondary Academy?

Manor Drive Secondary Academy is at Porter Avenue, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE4 7EP.